Submarine.



D. OTTAVIANI.

SUBMARINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 14, I9I1.

Patented May14, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 atroz neg SUBMARINE.

APPLICATIO N FILED MAY14. 1917.

Patented 11135714, 1918.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3 @noauto/L FFQE.

DOMENICO OTTAVIANI, OF DAYTON, (20H10.4

SUBMARINE.

Speeication of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 14, 1917. Serial No. 168,551. n

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DOMENICO OTTAVIANI, citizen of the United States, residing at Dayton,in the county of Montgomery and State of Ghio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Submarines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to submarines or under sea boats and more particularly to submerging or diving apparatus for boats having a buoyancy characteristic or tendency to rise in the water thereby obviating the necessity for an excessive amount of water or other ballast.

The object of the invention is to simplify the construction as well as the means an mode of operation of such devices whereby they will not only be cheapened in construction but will be more eiiicient in use, positive in operation7 easily and quickly adjusted whereby the inclination of the boat to the horizontal may be easily and quickly varied and the depth at which the boat shall travel correspondingly varied.

A further object of the invention is to proi vide stabilizing means for the vessel whether traveling at or adjacent to the surface of the water or far below.

A further object of the invention is to enable the vessel to be submerged under the influence of the same propelling power which drives the vessel forward, whether at the surface or far beneath, and which will further enable the vessel to maintain a line of travel below the water level which shall deviate but little from a straight line.

ik further object of the invention is to provide improved means for indicating to the operator or crew the relative positions of the defiecting or submerging vanes.

With the above primary and other incidental objects in view as will morefully appear in the specification, the invention consiste of the features of construction, the

parts and combinations thereof and the mode of operation or their equivalents as hereinafter describedoand set forth in the claims. y

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a submarine or under sea boa-t. broken away to disclose the driving mechanism, to which theinvention forming the subject matter hereof has been applied. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof. Fig.

3 is a side elevation of a modification of the construction shown in Fig.. l in Whichare fleeting rudders or planes.

rudders or planes 7 are located closely adembodied multiple defiecting or submerging the vessel of which 2 is thev keel and 3 they usual yguiding rudder which controls the lateral deviation of the vessel. Mounted upon the hull l is the usual superstructure 4L and the periscope 5. Pivotally mounted on op posite sides of the keel 2 and capable of oscillatory movement about pivotal connections 6 are two deflecting rudders or planes 7 which by their operation serve to deiiect `the vessel from an even keel position, guiding it either downward or upward according to the direction of inclination fof said de- The deflecting jacent to the keel 2 in which positions they are overhung by the hull 1. Fins or guiding rudders have heretofore been provided upon the sides of the hulls of submarine ves sels in which instances they project laterallv beyond the outline of the body or hull of the vessel. It is to be noted that'in the present construction the deflecting rndders or planes 7 underlie the hull ofthe vessel from which v they are spaced,` thereby forming an intermediate passage of sluice-way S. The deflecting rudders or planes are carried upon trunnions or arms 9 mounted on'the keel 2. These arms or trunnions are supported at their outer ends byy pendant links or supporting brackets 10. j

'Mounted in suitable bearings in the kkeel 2 atopposite sides of the pivotal connections of'the deiiecting rudders or planes 7 are vertically disposed rotary actuating screws 11 and 12. `Located within a suitable housing or inclosure 13 adjacent to the hull or body 1 are bevel gear vpinions 14 and 15, upon the screw shafts 11 and 12 respectively. Meshing with the gear pinions 14 and 15 are corresponding bevel gear pinions 16 and 17 located on the opposite yends of a longitudinally disposed connecting drive shaft* 18. Either of the screw shafts 11 and' 12 may be Patented May 14, 1918.

ioo

extended upward as at 19 to afford a driving connection with an actuating motor or mechanism within the hull l. ln Fig. l the screw shaft l2 has been shown so extended and pr vided at its upper end with a gear 2O meshing with a corresponding gear 21 upon a drive shaft 92 which carries a gear 223 meshing with a drive pinion 2li upon the armature shaft of a driving motor 25. Mounted for vertical travel upon the shafts l1 and l2 as said screw shafts are rotated are cross arms 26 having therein screw threaded openings 2T engaging over said screw shafts ll and l2. The cross arms '2.6 are preferably cylindrical and mounted thereon are sleeves 2S engaging in keepers or housings 29 secured to the deflecting rudders or planes? These keepers or housings 29 are of sufficient sizey to permit a limited relative movement of the sleeves 28 and arms 25 in rela.- tion with the deflecting rudders or planes 'I' the latter are oscillated to compensate for the varying inclinationsof the rudders, In addition. to being pivotally supported upon the laterally disposed t-runnion arms 9 and further supported and connected by the cross arms Q6, carried by the screw shafts l1 and l2, the deflect-ing rudders or planes 'T are further connected adjacent to their extremities by transverse tie bars 30 connected rigidly to the respective rudders or planes and extending through arcuate slots 3l in the keel Q. By this means the deflecting rudders or planes 7 are interconnected into a rigid unitary structure disposed on opposite sides of the keel 2. It is to be noted that the driving connections between the screw shafts ll and l2 comprising the gear pinions lo and 17 and the intermediate drive shaft 18 are such that the screw shafts ll and 1Q- will be operated in opposite directions. rlhat is to say that when the screw shaft ll is operated to drive the cross Varms 26 carried thereby downward, screw shaft is rotated in the opposite direction to actuate the cross arms 26 carried by said shaft l upwardly in unison with the descent of the cross arms 26 of the opposite screw shaft. Thus the opposite ends of the deilecting rudders or planes `are positively moved in unison in .opposite directions thereby effecting an oscillatory movement of the rudders or planes 7 about their central pivotal connection 9. ln order to indicate to the operator or crew the relative. adjustment ofthe planes or rudders 7 there is provided upon the lertension 19 of the shaft l2 a sprocket wheel 32 connected by a sprocket chain 83 with a similar sprocket 3st upon a vertically disposed shaft 35. JThe shaft carries at its upper lend a worm gear 36 meshing with a worm wheel 31?' to the shaft of which attached an indicator hand or pointer 38 which travels .to and fro over an indicator dial 39 to indicate thedferent positions rof raeaaos adjustment of the dellecting planes or rudderA 'T The construction is such that by depre ng the rudders or planes 7 downwardly ano forwardly the driving propeller 40 of the vessel will propel the hull l forwardly and dmvnwardly in an inclined course deter mined bythe relative adjustment or inelina tion of the detlecting rudders er planes 7. lfffhen the vessel has descended to the desired level the detlecting rudders orplanes are returned toward but not entirely to their neutral er horizontal position. lt will be found necessary to make a slight inclination of the ruddcrs or planes Y sufficient to overcome the natural buoyancy of the vessel to maintain the vessel at the desireddepth. As the vessel is driven forward the movement of the water through the contracted passage or sluice-way 8 intermediate the defiecting rudders or planes Y and the under side of the hull l has a materially advantageous effect in forcing the vessel downward at an inclination to the horizontal., as well as a stabilizing etl'ect in preventing rolling or sud,- den variations or changes of position. These deflectiug planes or rudders 7 arranged in spaced relation below the hull l also afford a stabilizing eldest thought .to be due to the passage of water through the passageway or sluice-way 8 intermediate the planes of rudders 7 and the under side of the. hull which is not attained by the use of hns or rudders projecting from the hull itself. This stabilizing influence of the deflecting planes 0r rudders is felt when the vessel is riding on even heel with the rudders substantially horizontal with the under side of the hull, as well as when being driven at an inclination to .the horizontal, either during submerging or emerging operation. During the submerging operation, the planes or middels 7 are directed downwardly and forwardly and the vessel is driven forward by the propeller el@ planes or rudders 7 serve to simultaneously deflect. it downward to greater depth in unison with its forward movement. However, upon the emerging operation the planes arereturned toward normal or pan allel position only sufficient that the buoyancy of the vessel may overcome the influence of the inclination of the rudder-s or planes 'T whereby the vessel will tend to rise. However, if it is desired to emerge quickly the relative positions of the deflecting rudders or planes 7 may be reversed and vby directing the rudders upwardly and for? wardly, the vessel may be quickly brought to the surface.

ln the modified construction shown in Fig. '7, double sets of deflectiug rudders or planes are employed. ln lieu of the single set of rudders 7 it may be ydesirable in vessels of greater length or when greater degrees of inclination of the rudders are to be desired? to provide the vessel with mulasV iso

tiple sets of such detlecting rudders or planes as shown at Ll1 and 42, F ig. 7. These planes 41 and l2 are pivoted at their central points 43 in the manner before described. Each set of deflecting rudders or planes is provided with actuating ,screw shafts st and 46%17 respectively. Each of these shafts is provided adjacent to its upper end and within the pendant housing 13 beneath the hull 1 with a bevel gear 48 each of which meshes with a corresponding gear 49 upon the intermediate longitudinally disposed drive shafts 50, 51 and It is to be noted that the gear train is so arranged that the direction of rotation of the several screw shafts is als ternated. These screw shafts are provided with the cross arms before described which are engaged with the delecting rudders or planes Ll1 and 42, thereby serving to positively cscillate the deflecting rudders L11 and in unison. The said rudders or deflect.- ing planes are always adjusted simultaneously to the same degree of inclination and serve the same purposes and produce the same beneficial effects as those before described. It will be obvious that with a set of delecting rudders or planes of great length the range of possible variation or inclination would be very limited whereas by employing multiple sets of such deecting rudders or planes such rudders or planes may be adjusted to much greater degrees of inclination. Likewise the supporting conf Vnections of the rudders or planes are brought more closely together thereby aifording a more rigid construction.

From the above description it will be apparent that there is thus produced a device of the character described possessing the particular features of advantage before enumerated as desirable but which obviously is susceptible of modification in its form, proportion, det-ail construction and arrange ment of parts without departing from the principle involved or sacrificing any of its advantages.

llhile the invention has been described in language more or less specific as to certain structural features, it is to be understood that it is not limited to any specific details but that the construction and mode of operation herein described comprise but one method of putting the invention into effect and the invention is therefore claimed broadly in any of its possible forms or modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. The combination with a vessel having a pendant keel, of oscillatory deiiecting planespivoted to the keel beneath the hull of the vessel, vertically disposed. screw shafts mounted in the keel, cross arms screw threaded upon the shafts and engaged with the opposite ends of the oscillatory planes, and means for simultaneously driving said screw shafts to actuate said cross arms in opposite directions whereby said planes will be adjusted to different degrees of inclination.

The combination with a vessel having a pendant keel, of oscillatory deflector planes located upon opposite sides of the keel beneath the hull of the vessel and overhung thereby, rotary screw shafts mounted in the keel, means for simultaneously rotating the shafts, and cross arms actuated by the shafts and connected to said planes whereby the inclination of the planes is varied by the operation of said screw shafts.

3. The combination with a vessel having a pendant keel, of an oscillatory deflecting plane supported adjacent to its opposite ends at separated points upon the keel beneath the hull of the vessel, and means for varying the inclination of the plane in relation with the hull.

e. The combination of a vessel having a pendant keel, parallel deflecting planes mounted'for oscillatory movement upon opposite sides of said pendant keel and transverse tie members extending through openings in said pendant keel connecting said parallel planes one to the other for movement in unison. Y

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 28 day of April, A. vD.

DOMENICO OTTAVIANI. Witnesses:

C. A. GARHEAD, F. L. WALKER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C. 

